Cyprus-Forum.com

[halil]

Christofias should beg forgiveness

Columnist Loucas Charalambous, who writes in the Sunday Mail and Politis, describes a recent visit to Famagusta with a childhood friend who lives in Athens. It was the first time he had seen Famagusta in 40 years. From the edge of the beach at Faliro we surveyed the coast with its abandoned hotels and other buildings.
My friend was close to tears. “They were giving you back this whole town and you refused to take it?” he asked, not really expecting an answer. “We have Christofias to thank for this,” I said.
“You are insane,” he concluded and I agreed with him. “If we were not insane we would not be in such a colossal mess,” I said.

Returning to Nicosia we heard about the president’s speech at the annual event held by Famagustans in Dherynia. He started his speech as follows: “Every year, for 36 years now, from this place we gaze at the silent and deserted town of Famagusta.” Further on he advertised to his audience his proposal for the return of part of the town, in exchange for the unhindered opening of chapters in Turkey’s accession negotiations with the EU and for the use of the town’s port by the Turkish Cypriots.

I could not help but admire the boundless, political audacity of our president. The main party guilty of Famagusta remaining “silent and deserted” is Christofias and the rest of the AKEL leadership, who killed every opportunity for the return of the town to us.

There had been three such opportunities that were spurned by the AKEL top brass. On July 20, 1978 Rauf Denktash proposed the return of Famagusta and the return of 35,000 inhabitants, immediately after the start of peace talks. On the night of that day, speaking at Elftheria Square, the then president Spyros Kyprianou, with the then leader of AKEL Ezekias Papaioannou, who had elected him, by his side, turned down the proposal, dismissing it as a “Denktash soap-bubble”.

In November of the same year Kyprianou and the AKEL leadership spurned another opportunity when they rejected the American-British-Canadian plan which envisaged the return of Famagusta on the resumption of negotiations. AKEL rejected the plan on the instructions of Moscow, despite the strong pleas by the Greek government to accept it. In both cases, the town would have been returned to us regardless of the outcome of the subsequent peace talks.

In 2004, the AKEL leadership, with Christofias in charge, killed off the third opportunity to have Famagusta returned, by voting against the Annan plan. The plan envisaged not just the return of the fenced off part of the town but the entire Greek part.

Three times Christofias and the leadership of AKEL have committed the same crime, condemning Famagusta to remain in Turkish hands. And today he has the nerve to beg for the return of a part of the town, offering big concessions in exchange.

It should be noted that in 1978 only four years had elapsed since the invasion. Back then, Famagustans would have returned to the town, carried out a cleaning operation and within a few weeks the town would have been buzzing with life. Today, even if they do return they would return to a town that would have to be demolished and re-built.

So if today, 36 years later, Christofias “gazes at the silent and deserted town”, he should consider his party’s and his own responsibility for this tragedy. And instead of peddling heroic slogans and shedding crocodile tears to Famagustans he should be asking for their forgiveness.

[paliometoxo]

no eroglulul man should beg forgiveness and stop with his rubbish two states or nothing talk

[shahmaran]

no eroglulul man should beg forgiveness and stop with his rubbish two states or nothing talk

There is no other way...

[growuptcs]

no eroglulul man should beg forgiveness and stop with his rubbish two states or nothing talk

There is no other way...

Amputation is the next step for survival if you choose to live in north Cyprus. Acting like a zombie has no benefits anymore.